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I want to Art Again (NSFW)

When I was in High School, I drew something everyday and improved by leaps and bounds. That energy tapered off several years ago and I basically stopped making art. Every few months I'd dust off the tablet and draw a monster or something, but that was the extent of it.

I realized I don't really have any hobbies I'm particularly passionate about anymore. I go to work, come home, and watch T.V. That's no way to live, I want to go back to doing something productive with my free time.

So, I'll be dumping things here. To start, here are a few things I've (slowly) churned out over the last year.

Two character concepts, one for DnD, the other for Vampire: The Masquerade.

Mothers Day card.

Various Aliens

Monster in a cubicle.

I guess my biggest goals right now are to brush up on the basics and go beyond doodles, finish things, use color, make images that tell a story, etc. Any criticism is more than welcome.

These show decent structure (although the ones on angles are starting to distort, watch out for that), but I think the super-high contrast you have here is working against you. All but the palest of white skin will have some mid-tones to it, and there should be some shadows around the ala on the sides of the nose that give it some definition. I'd suggest trying some more studies with single-point lighting so you have some more dramatic shadows to work with, which will help define the form of the face.

As an aside, the shoes of your second vampire character look very awkward, like the perspective isn't quite correct at all. References are great for these sorts of things!

Ive read a lot of art books. Been to a lot of art school. Thats a good book. There are lots of others and no book is the end all, but that one is very easy to sink your teeth into because of he illustrates everything he is saying very very clearly.

If you want to make finished drawings and other projects, make a clear, written goal and stick to it. Do something manageable, like one finished drawing, posted on a blog, every Monday. And tell a couple of your friends about it, so you are accountable.

Also, those are all good books Kenny mentioned. Although I can't vouch for the Proven Strategies book. Nor can I afford it!

Your drawings are just fine but definitely artistic and unique! You have the potential so you better continue what you're doing right now. Who knows, you can be a famous cartoonist someday! Well, goodluck to you!

Try mirroring the picture, that can sometimes help with picking up structural flaws. Off hand, I'd say her eyes are slightly misplaced - and she has an entirely tubular neck, which is stopping things looking natural.

Left (our right) hand read as backwards to me momentarily; I get it now but I think you need to really sell that pinky knuckle going forward. Also probably develop the right arm a little better before you dive into painting; it's kind of noodly right now.

I was gone for awhile and didn't see your OP. Great stuff. I'd buy a a print of monster in a cubicle.

I'm just trying to make a start on the digital painting side of things as well, so I can't offer too much advice there, but it seems like you're heading the right way. Maybe some still life studies or something would be a good shout? The colour work on the red riding hood piece is looking good, but I think the one thing that's missing from a lot of the pieces you've posted is contrast, just to help things pop a little more. Your work looks quite confident and the characters have a nice style to them, so it'll be cool to see where things go.